Lutra 60(1)_Kompanje & Post_2017

Remarkable mandibular fracture healing in an early Holocene bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)

The Natural History Museum Rotterdam (the Netherlands) holds a large osteological collection of fossil and recent cetaceans. A right mandible of a bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) shows signs of perfect healing of a severe traumatic fracture. Its size, colour, state of preservation and the collection site (Southern North Sea bed) point to an estimated age of ca. 8000-7000 years BP (early Holocene). We describe this remarkable fossil mandible and hypothesise about possible causes of the injury.